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Why yes, that is my living room…

Day 214

I’ll get to the reason of why I choose pictures of my house today in just a moment, but there’s a question that’s been rattling around in my brain for awhile now that I really wish I could get an answer for…

How do you know when you’ve moved from amateur to advanced or from enthusiast to professional? If I went by pay only then I would consider myself legit, but if I went by experience, confidence and time in position then I don’t know how I would label myself…

When I landed my first paying gig, I was so excited that I didn’t think about what changes that might bring for me. It was a job as a race photographer at a small local 10k race and the pay wasn’t much so I didn’t think much of it. Since then, I’ve been booking races pretty regularly and have even left my part-time Contract role in Human Resources, moving into a full-time role as a real-estate photographer. The shots I posted today are practice shots where I’m supposed to critique, evaluate and then correct before I head out next week to shoot my first houses on my own.

It’s funny, when someone asks what I do for a living, I say I’m a photographer, but part of me still wonders, am I pro…?

Taken with my Canon 6D using an EF 17-40mm lens mounted on a tripod. These shots are both HDR shots done using 3 exposures set at +1, -3, +3 and merged using Photomatix.

“The whole point of taking pictures is so that you don’t have to explain things with words.” Elliot Erwitt